TOPICS: TOP FAQ | COST | SAVINGS | CHANGES | RELIABILITY | JOBS | GOVERNANCE
TOP FAQ:
By changing to no-profit electricity utility. SDGE is a for-profit monopoly. By changing to a no-profit, publicly accountable electric utility, rates could be reduced by at least 20% (we would also be saved from paying high corporate salaries and advertising budgets).
By volunteering or donating to Public Power San Diego, we can put a measure on the ballot to change to a no-profit electric utility and gain local control.
SDGE/Sempra makes profits to serve shareholders not customers. So they will ALWAYS choose the most expensive way to produce and deliver power. Building expensive transmission lines provides them the most profit – even though it carries the most fire risk and costs us more than local solar. A no-profit utility will choose the least expensive way to generate and deliver reliable power.
In the range of 20% in the short-term by no longer paying the SDGE profit and associated taxes, and much more later. We would save $20 billion by 2042 on the avoided profits to SDGE alone, assuming the historic rate of SDGE profit growth over the last decade.
Unlike SDGE, which exists to maximize profits for its shareholders, a no-profit utility would save hundreds of millions of dollars annually. To begin, our no-profit utility would eliminate SDGE’s 20% gross profit margin (which includes taxes on profits) on electric service.
The no-profit utility would not have to pay for expensive new transmission that will be made unnecessary with a build-out of local solar power.
The no-profit utility will be out from under the control of the CPUC (California Public Utility Commission) that is currently captured by for-profit interests. The CPUC has approved continuing rate increases for years to come. They do not meaningfully question the plans for the for-profit monopolies: SDGE, Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison.
Solar and battery projects built by the no-profit utility would be financed at lower tax-exempt municipal rates.
The EDU would focus its supply development on local solar – the more affordable energy option path to addressing the climate crisis.
Yes! A majority of San Diego residents (60%) support replacing SDG&E with a nonprofit municipal utility, according to a poll taken in 2024.
No. We are beginning with the City of San Diego since they have already completed the necessary studies of the costs and benefits of public power. By starting in San Diego city, we aim to create a model of success that can eventually be replicated across the county. The California Constitution allows municipal public utilities to expand to other communities should those communities opt to join the municipal utility.
The no-profit utility would take out a municipal revenue bond to pay SDGE for the assessed value of about $2.3 Billion. The bond would be paid back by ratepayers, at a cost of about 3¢ Kw/H over 30 years. This is a small fraction of the 48-50¢ Kw/H we are already paying.
No new taxes will be imposed, and the City will be subject to no new financial exposure. Their ability to borrow is not impacted because the bonds are based on the rates.
The rates currently include taxes that SDGE has to pay. The no-profit utility would not have to pay those taxes.
Yes!
See Sections 1 and 104 of the San Diego City Charter:
Section 1: “The municipal corporation now existing and known as “The City of San Diego” … may own and acquire property within or without its boundaries for either governmental or proprietary, or any municipal purpose, either by succession, annexation, purchase, devise, lease, gift or condemnation. “
Section 104: “The Council may fix the term of each new franchise in accordance with the laws of the State of California, provided that any franchise may be terminated by ordinance whenever the City shall determine to acquire by condemnation or otherwise the property of any utility necessary for the welfare of the City, such termination to be effective upon and not before payment of the purchase price for the property to be acquired.”
SDGE has acknowledged that the City can exercise this right at any time.[3] SDGE will be fairly compensated for the electric assets, ideally by mutually agreeing with the City on a purchase price. If SDGE refuses to sell, or insists on an unduly inflated price, the City can pursue condemnation action under its right of eminent domain. If the electric distribution system is acquired through condemnation, the courts will determine the just compensation amount. A study commissioned by the City of San Diego in July 2023 estimated the total fair market value of the distribution grid in the City at $1.7 billion.
It is not SDGE’s decision to make. The City has the established right in the City Charter to acquire the electric grid in the City from SDGE if it determines it is in the welfare of San Diegans to do so.
SDGE will commit many millions of dollars to a public disinformation campaign to avoid losing its profitable monopoly electric franchise in the City. That is why we need thousands of individual supporters to exercise their rights to lower utility rates.
SDG&E has acknowledged that the City can exercise this right at any time. SDG&E will be fairly compensated for the electric assets, ideally by mutually agreeing with the City on a purchase price. The City has committed to phase out natural gas usage by 2035, and for that reason PPSD does not propose to acquire SDGE’s natural gas assets. If SDG&E refuses to sell the electric distribution assets, or insists on an unduly inflated price, the City can pursue condemnation action in court under its right of eminent domain. The court will then determine the just compensation amount for the distribution grid assets.
It will help current and future rooftop solar owners enormously. Current rooftop owners are now facing new monthly SDGE fixed charges selectively targeting rooftop solar customers. The fixed charges that customers who are not on discounted rates (about 75% of residential customers) will soon pay, even if they generate all their electricity from solar, will be about $300 per year. The no-profit utility would impose no new fixed charges. It would also set local electric rates and be out from under regulatory oversight by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
COST
The value of the distribution grid poles and wires has been assessed by the City (July 2023 study) at $1.7 billion. This sum represents the “Original Cost Less Depreciation – OCLD” market value, otherwise known as fair market value, of the poles and wires.
The cost of “separation and reintegration” of the City’s distribution grid, to reconfigure substations that serve both San Diego residents and neighboring communities, is estimated in the study at about $250 million. Finally, the study estimates startup costs at $300 million. The total “fair market value” initial cost to acquire and start up the EDU would be about $2.3 billion.
SDGE created their own self-serving estimate, 4x to 5x higher than the study estimate, to undermine the reasonable and well-substantiated values in that study.
Absolutely not.
San Diego residents already pay a “mortgage” to SDGE on the market value of the poles and wires. The no-profit electric utility would finance this capital expense with a revenue bond. The bond would be paid back by ratepayers over a 30-year period.
The amortized cost to purchase SDGE electric distribution assets at current market value in the City of San Diego, including severance and startup costs, would be less than $0.02/kWh. [1] That would be $10/month on the average residential customer’s monthly usage of about 600 kWh per month. [2] Compare this with the already approved 10% per year increases on your monthly SDGE bill projected by the CPUC.
This capital expense would be recovered from a high volume of electric power sales to City customers, more than 8 billion kilowatt-hours per year, over 30 years.
For comparison, the SDG&E all-in non-discounted retail residential electric rate was $0.48/kWh in 2023
[1] NewGen Strategies. Total electric acquisition costs = $2,300,000,000 (capital assets, severance, capital start-up); municipal bond, 30 years, 4% interest (capital recovery factor = 0.0578), 8 billion kWh/year sales. Unit total acquisition revenue requirement = ($2.3 billion x 0.0578)/8 billion kWh/yr = $0.017/kWh.[2] Average residential consumption is 600 kWh/month. 600 kWh/month x $0.017/kWh = $10/month.
SDGE will be paid a fair price for the electric distribution grid. The purchase will be financed without City funds or new taxes. The purchase will be self-financed using long-term municipal revenue bonds to be paid off by electricity customers.
The cost to repay the bonds will be small compared to the large savings realized. The City’s finances will not be exposed to any new debt. The bond amounts have no impact on the City’s borrowing because they are backed by ratepayer payments and are the sole responsibility of the no-profit EDU.
No. Not only will SDGE be fairly compensated, the City of San Diego ratepayers and all other customers of SDGE paid for the assets to begin with. Even though its customers pay to build, operate, and maintain all SDGE infrastructure – and pay for profit – SDGE retains legal ownership of the assets. This would change by moving to public power.
This would change by moving to public power.
This would change by moving to public power.
No. At bond value of $3.1 billion (that includes the electric distribution system purchase at 1.5x fair market value, severance costs, and startup costs), the impact on electric rates would be less than $0.03 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
Yes. Another costs savings for no-profit utilities is they don’t pay taxes. SDG&E has consistently paid about $200 million per year in income taxes.
SAVINGS
A no-profit utility would initially save about 20 to 25%, primarily by eliminating profits and taxes that would otherwise be collected by SDGE, and by substantially reducing executive pay to the range typical of comparable public utilities.
The switch to a not-for-profit electric utility would also eliminate SDGE expenditures on excessive senior executive salaries ($11 million per year to the CEO in 2020), advertising, contributions to candidates and elected officials, lobbying organizations, and influential local non-profit organizations.
SDGE makes over $1.4 million a day in profit from its City of San Diego customers. Almost 90 percent of that profit comes from the electric side of the business. A San Diego no-profit electric utility would collect no profit from San Diego customers.
The mission of the not-for-profit electric utility will be to reduce electric rates by maximizing local solar and battery development.
This local power, generated and used on the low voltage distribution system, would not be subject to the high, onerous, and rising transmission access charges imposed by SDGE on all delivered retail power. This would result in local solar and storage being the lowest-cost power option for City residents.
The proposed not-for-profit utility will commence operations in January 2031. The production cost of commercial rooftop solar will be one-third of SDGE’s projected transmission charge in 2030, according to National Renewable Energy Laboratory production cost forecasts.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) projects that rates will increase for SDG&E customers at 10.4% per year.* Assuming that rate of increase, and assuming the current daily profit of $1.4 million the figure below shows how that profit will rise to about $20 billion by 2042.
SDGE Historical Rates SDGE Future Rates Slide SDG&E Rates versus PSD over time
* CPUC, 2023 SENATE BILL 695 REPORT (May 2023) Report to the Governor and Legislature on Actions to Limit Utility Cost and Rate Increases Pursuant to Public Utilities Code Section 913.1. p.10. “. . . average annual rate increases between the first quarter of 2023 and fourth quarter of 2026 . . . SDG&E 10.4 percent.”
No-profit power rates are substantially lower. The residential rates of SMUD (public utility), PG&E, and SDG&E are compared in the figure below. The monthly bill of a SMUD residential customer is now about one-third the monthly bill of a SDG&E residential customer for the same amount of electricity used.
Comparison of electric rates: SMUD, PG&E and SDG&E:
CHANGES related to no-profit power
Public power utilities are deeply rooted in the history of the United States. They are an expression of the American ideal of local people working together to meet local needs. Like schools, parks, libraries, police, and fire protection, public power utilities are part of the infrastructure that demands local control. They are governed locally and operated to provide an essential public service at a reasonable price.
In California, 46 out of 49 electric utilities are public electric utilities – and they all provide reliable electricity at rates significantly lower than SDGE.
The benefits of public electric power are local control, more accountability, better service, higher reliability, lower rates, a stronger local economy, and better prospects for achieving high renewables generation. Of all the municipalities in the US that have actually made the switch to 100% renewables power, all of them are no-profit electric utilities. View article.
“San Diego Community Power” is a not-for-profit that contracts for the power supply used by San Diegans. That power is transmitted over SDGE poles and wires in the city. But SDCP has continued the practices of SDGE and has not seriously pursued lower rates.
The new no-profit utility would takeover owning and operating the poles and wires in the city and setting electric rates. In contrast to SDGE, the no-profit utility would focus on rapidly expanding the local solar power supply, and when necessary, build those projects using low cost tax exempt municipal bonds. Their mission would be to provide its customers in the City of San Diego with reliable, affordable electric service focusing on local solar with distributed batteries. This design reduces the expensive transmission costs that account for 90% of recent rate increases.
San Diego Community is our “community choice” energy provider. The state passed a “community choice” law in the wake of the California energy crisis of 2000-2001 that enables communities located in investor-owned utility (IOU) service territories to select and provide their own power supply if they choose to do so. Under this structure, the IOU (SDGE) continues to own the poles and wires and to deliver the power supply.
SDCP is a non-profit entity with a mission to provide less expensive renewable power at a faster pace than SDGE. However, to date SDCP has chosen to follow a similar procurement model as SDGE. Power supply costs account for only about 20 percent of a residential customer’s bill, with the remaining 80 percent associated with delivery and related costs. Instead of supporting local solar, they are pursuing the more expensive course of procuring remote power that requires high cost transmission to reach customers.
A no-profit electric utility that owns and operates our poles and wires, bringing the entire City of San Diego electric system under local control, has the greatest potential to reduce rates, achieve faster decarbonization, and work synergistically with SDCP.
SDCP is a seven-jurisdiction joint powers authority, consisting of San Diego, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach, La Mesa, Encinitas, National City, and San Diego County. As noted, SDCP procures electric power supply for member cities and the County unincorporated areas, while SDG&E continues to provide transmission and distribution service.
If the City of San Diego establishes an independent no-profit electric utility, it will take over the electricity distribution, billing, and customer service within the city limits. SDCP will supply power to the new utility at a wholesale level. That will remain true over time if SDCP concentrates on developing the local solar and battery storage projects the public utility will require.
The not-for-profit utility will build its own solar and battery power if the market cannot provide those resources at competitive prices.
About 25 percent of California’s electric power is provided by no-profit electric utilities. Overall there are 46 such public utilities in California, the largest being the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). Notably, San Diego has a nearby not-for-profit electric utility – the Imperial Irrigation District (IID).
More than 30.
Long Island and Kauai Island have converted from private monopoly utilities to public utilities in the recent past. The Long Island Power Authority, with 1.4 million customers, is much larger than a City of San Diego not-for-profit electric utility, with 600,000 electric customers, would be. In Southern California, the cities of Moreno Valley and Corona have recently established public electric utilities for new customers. Around the state, the City of San Francisco and the South San Joaquin Irrigation District are pursuing public power.
Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), 1998
Immediate rate reduction of 20 percent. LIPA rates continue to be lower than those of downstate New York private utilities. LIPA is a leader in clean energy.
Kauai Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC), 2003
Under private utility control, KIUC had the highest electric rates in Hawaii. It now has the lowest rates and highest renewable energy percentage. It is the nationwide leader in community-scale solar plus battery storage.
Moreno Valley Electric Utility, 2004
Provides electric service to new commercial and residential developments in Moreno Valley. It received the American Public Power Association’s “Excellence in Reliability” award in 5 of the last 7 years (including 2023).
Corona Municipal Electric Utility, 2001
Provides fully bundled electric service to City of Corona owned and operated facilities and eight areas within the City. The public utility was established in response to state-wide rolling blackouts and electric price instability.
Yes.
Here is a map that shows those who are currently exploring Public Power or have recently.
Yes. There are several examples:
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The City’s not-for-profit Public Utilities Department (PUD) provides water and wastewater service to City residents.
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The Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) is a joint powers authority non-profit agency. MTS grew out of San Diego Transit. San Diego Transit was formed in 1967 when the City took over the private transit operator serving the City at the time. MTS member cities include San Diego, Chula Vista, Coronado, El Cajon, Imperial Beach, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, National City, Poway, Santee, and San Diego County. Elected officials from each jurisdiction, including San Diego County, serve as the board of directors. The City of San Diego has the most representation with four members.
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Newly formed San Diego Community Power (SDCP) is a joint powers authority composed of six cities and the County,
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UC San Diego also operates largely as an island of electric self-service within SDG&E – a standalone microgrid – in effect functioning as a de facto municipal utility.
Reasonably well with some issues that people were able to complain about and get fixed.
The Public Utilities Department was honored in 2016 and 2019 as a “Utility of the Future Today.” It is developing the cutting-edge “Pure Water” program that purifies recycled water to produce safe, high-quality drinking water for the City. The intent of this program is to provide one-third of the City’s drinking water by 2035.
The PUD gained notoriety for billing errors in 2017, when about 0.2 percent of bills required correction after being sent to customers. City Councilwoman Barbara Bry called for an audit in February 2018. New procedures were put in place to reduce billing errors in response to the audit. This incident showed the power of local control – customer complaints resulted in successful corrective action by the City Council.
The PUD has a better credit rating than SDGE. The Fitch bond rating for the PUD is AA- and BBB+ for SDGE.
With SDGE, there is really no accountability for their issues.
Not-for-profit electric utilities generally provide more revenue to their communities than private monopoly utilities.
Not-for-profit electric utilities contributed 5.6 percent of electric operating revenues back to the communities they serve (2016 data). In comparison, investor-owned utilities paid a median of 4.4 percent of electric operating revenues in taxes and fees to state and local governments.
SDG&E provides franchise fees equivalent to 3.0 percent of its electric and natural gas sales to the City of San Diego. These fee payments, which are pass-through payments from residents to the City, amounted to $63.7 million (pg 5) in fiscal year 2020 on an estimated $1.8 billion in SDG&E sales revenue generated in the City.*
A fee of comparable value, $63.6 million (pg.5), was also collected for the Utility Undergrounding Surcharge Fund. SDG&E collects these fees from City residents and transfers them to the City. These fees are not paid out of SDG&E revenue (pg.2).
In contrast, Austin Energy, the not-for-profit electric utility of Austin, Texas, contributed $109 million to Austin’s General Fund in 2018 on sales of $1.2 billion. This amount is approximately 9 percent of Austin Energy’s sales revenue – a rate three times higher than the San Diego franchise fee.
[4] NewGen Report, Table 3, pdf p. 45. SDG&E electric revenue from San Diego sales, 2017 = $1.551 billion. SDG&E natural gas revenue from San Diego sales, 2017 = $0.226 billion. Total San Diego sales, 2017 = $1.777 billion.
The City of San Diego has ample solar potential to auto-supply with local solar power. The solar potential of residential and commercial rooftops in San Diego is approximately 9,000 GWh. The solar potential of commercial parking lots is approximately 6,500 GWh. Available ground-mounted sites in the City have a solar potential of approximately 5,000 GWh. In combination, the solar potential of San Diego is in the range of 20,000 GWh per year. This is far greater than the 8,000 GWh of new solar power needed by 2039 to offset imported (transmission dependent) grid power.
An EE target reduction of 20 percent, or approximately 2,000 GWh of the projected 2039 net electricity demand in the City, will be achieved by the not-for-profit electric utility by focusing EE upgrade efforts on customers using disproportionately high amounts of electricity. An opt-out program structure would be used to maximize the potential gains as fast as they can be achieved. On-bill financing available to all customers including renters – with payment tied to the meter number and not an individual – would fund a substantial amount of this local clean energy development.
RELIABILITY & RISKS
Yes. SDGE’s record is problematic.
SDG&E territory has experienced three major blackouts in the last decade: April 2010, September 2011, and August 2020.
All three blackouts occurred under conditions that SDG&E should have been able to meet without interrupting power to customers. SDG&E avoided blackouts during the SDG&E-caused 2007 wildfires in part by obtaining emergency power from UC San Diego, which self-supplies with its own generation.*
*San Diego Union Tribune – Letters, Generation of power outside SDG&E grid, November 17, 2007.
It would be a different set of risks – both known and unknown risks associated with the fear of change.
The known risks of staying with SDGE: continued rate increases of 10% per year for the next five years and the foreseeable future after that.
Continued expensive wildfire costs. We need not build or pay for new expensive and risky transmission lines through fire prone and wildlife habitats. Since the 2007 Witch Creek, Guejito and Rice wildfires in the San Diego area that destroyed more than 1,300 homes and killed two people, SDG&E has spent about $5 billion in ratepayer funds on wildfire prevention.
San Diego has sufficient solar resources within its boundaries to meet the needed electricity demand. The no-profit utility would have the mission to reduce rates and risks and would not require additional construction of expensive and risky transmission lines.
The unknown risks can be summed up as fear of change. Experience tells us that no-profit utilities work well – they are more reliable and have lower rates due to their structural and local controls.
Distributed, locally-generated solar power would Increase resiliency.
The existing SDGE model of importing power via long transmission lines increases the number of potential soft targets for failures or terrorism. The National Defense Strategy (NDS) emphasizes “deterrence by resilience” as a central strategy to protect critical infrastructure. Distributed solar make it more difficult to intrude on the power supply.
Local solar with batteries gives us local control. During recent heat waves, buildings with solar power did not suffer power outages. Those connected through under-maintained equipment had outages exactly when they needed heat relief.
Only utility-scale (large) battery storage facilities, that place a huge amount of stored energy in one location, present substantial fire risk. State Regulators gave the for-profit monopolies including SDGE carte balance size and locate battery storage facilities. Without limits on the amount of energy being concentrated in one spot – the installs have become too large to be safe.
The worst fires come from an older lithium battery chemical composition (manganese/nickel/cobalt). This was the battery type responsible for the fire earlier in Otay Mesa, County of San Diego. Lithium iron phosphate battery chemistry has a lower fire risk, but fire risk is still present. Relatively fire prone battery installations are made more hazardous in proportion to their size.
You can get the same capacity in a distributed network with much less risk. Ten thousand home battery systems equal the output of one medium-sized utility-scale battery storage facility, but one ten-thousandth of the energy is stored at each site (with comparably lower impacts for fire).
MORE INFO on battery storage issues: http://www.stopseguro.org
JOBS
The International Brotherhood of Electric Workers (IBEW) Local 465 represents SDGE’s electrical workers.The no-profit utility would welcome SDGE’s IBEW 465 union workers and honor their collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with SDGE. It is required by state law to do so. IBEW 465 also represents public electric utility workers. Imperial Irrigation District (IID) to the east is a public electric utility. IBEW 465 represents IID workers. The transition of IBEW 465 workers from SDGE to the City’s no-profit utility should be relatively seamless for the workers. All public electric utilities in California are union.
Yes. The public utility will be obligated by law to retain all workers covered by a CBA with SDGE, for the subset of SDGE territory to be served by the public utility, prior to the transition to public power.
The IBEW 465 contract with SDGE has a Loyalty Clause that requires IBEW 465 members to promote SDGE interests at all times:
The Local Union agrees for its members (who are employees of the Company) that they will individually and collectively perform loyal and efficient work and service, that they will use their influence and best efforts to protect the property of the Company, and its service to the public, and that they will cooperate in promoting and advancing the welfare of the Company and the protection of its service to the public at all times.
Source: Amended Agreement between SDG&E and Local Union 465, Clause I.3
California Public Utilities Code 854.2: for three years after the transition period … the successor employer shall provide … no less than the wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment provided before the change of control (by the IOU) … and shall maintain no less than the total number of covered employees (on staff) before a change of control. This is the minimum protections currently. Additional protections would be addressed in the initiative language. If you are interested, please volunteer to serve on the Unions Team of volunteers.
GOVERNANCE
A variety of governance structures are used by existing California not-for-profit public municipalities, reflecting a mix of elected and appointed approaches:
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Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is governed by an elected seven-member board of directors.
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Imperial Irrigation District (IID) is governed by an elected five-member board of directors.
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Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is governed by a five-member Board of Water and Power Commissioners appointed by the mayor of Los Angeles and confirmed by the Los Angeles City Council.
The seven-member Anaheim Utilities Board is appointed by Anaheim City Council.
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The Riverside Board of Utilities is a nine-member board appointed by the Riverside City Council.
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Pasadena Water and Power is governed by the Pasadena City Council.
PPSD is evaluating whether an appointed Board or a directly-elected Board is a better alternative for San Diego.
In any case, expertise on the Board will be required to effectively oversee management and operations of the public utility. A third option being evaluated is to directly elect a portion of the Board and have the elected Board members appoint additional Board members with appropriate qualifications. This was the governance structure proposed in the 2023 Maine public power ballot initiative..
Under the third option four “expert” Board members would be appointed, each a registered voter residing in San Diego, encompassing four distinct fields:
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Law: Specializing in utility, business, regulatory, or finance law
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Economics: Focused on utility or business economics
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Mechanical or electrical engineering: Expertise in electricity generation, storage, efficiency, or delivery
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Environmental and social justice advocacy: Experience in energy issues affecting low-income and moderate-income individuals.
Board members would be appointed for staggered five-year terms to ensure continuity. The appointment process for appointed Board members would be comprehensive and include minimum qualifications and interviews. For example, addressing experience, each appointed Board member must have at least ten years of direct experience in their respective field.
The senior executive management would include positions such as strategic planning staff, engineering and capital planning staff, regulatory and compliance staff, and control room operators. These roles are filled by employees working directly for the public utility. In contrast, for other staff positions, the utility may employ qualified independent contractors selected through competitive bidding, in line with the principles of managed competition.
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Direct Employees: Key positions like senior executive management, strategic planning, engineering and capital planning, regulatory and compliance staff, and control room operators are staffed by city employees.
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Independent Contractors: Other operational roles may be filled by contractors, chosen through competitive bidding. These contracts, capped at five years, are based on experience, system knowledge, reliability, safety, and potential to enhance customer service and employee morale.
Sortition is the practice of selecting individuals for public office or decision-making roles through random selection, similar to drawing lots.
Importance of Sortition:
- Promotes Equality and Fair Representation:
- Since candidates are chosen randomly, sortition offers an equal chance for all citizens to participate in governance, reducing the influence of wealth, power, or popularity. It can result in a more representative cross-section of society compared to elections, which often favor certain demographics.
- Reduces Corruption and Partisanship:
- By removing the need for elections, sortition minimizes the influence of campaign financing, lobbying, and political parties. Officials chosen by sortition are not beholden to special interest groups, which can reduce corruption and partisan bias in decision-making.
- Diminishes Elitism:
- Sortition helps prevent the formation of political elites by ensuring that ordinary citizens, not just career politicians, have the opportunity to govern. This can lead to more diversity of ideas and policies that better reflect the broader population.
- Encourages Civic Engagement:
- Since every citizen has a chance to be selected for governance, sortition fosters a greater sense of civic responsibility and engagement. People may become more informed and involved in politics, knowing they could be called upon to serve.
- Increases Legitimacy:
- Because sortition is random, it can be seen as a fair and impartial way of distributing power. This can increase the legitimacy of government decisions, as they are made by people who are not campaigning for reelection or subject to political pressures.
Various studies have looked at the practical use of sortition in citizens’ assemblies in countries like Ireland, Belgium, and Canada, where randomly selected citizens were tasked with making decisions on complex political or constitutional issues. It was historically used in ancient Athens as a form of democratic governance, where citizens were randomly chosen to serve in various government positions rather than being elected.